New York the Way It Was

Writer Pete Hamill's mother was a cashier in a movie theater in New York during the 1940s, so her son got in free...but only after he agreed to get a library card. In a city built by immigrants, the way to get ahead was through education. Hamill is one of several interviewees who wax nostalgic over the good old days of the Big Apple, when kids played stickball in the street, icemen sold you a block of ice for a quarter, and you were either a Dodgers, Giants or Yankees fan. New York The Way It Was is a charming journey down memory lane, replete with wonderful historical footage of New York during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Mario Cuomo, Alan King, Joe Franklin, Hamill, and others recall the childhood joys of going to Ebbets Field or Coney Island ("it upsets the equilibrium and settles the disposition"). Viewers will see early versions of Times Square, the theatre district, Harlem nightlife, and the Automat (a restaurant-sized vending machine, with walls of little food windows; Alan King recollects getting a feast for fifteen cents). Couples doing the Lindy Hop, joltin' Joe DiMaggio, eating charlotte russe, New York The Way It Was is great fun for nostalgia buffs. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)